Adhesion of Candida albicans to mouse intestinal mucosa in vitro: development of the assay and test of inhibitors.

This study describes an in-vitro assay for estimating numbers of Candida albicans adherent to mouse intestinal mucosa. No significant differences were observed in the capacity of C. albicans to adhere to genetically distinct mouse strains nor in the binding ability of three C. albicans strains. Chitin soluble extracts, prepared from chitin isolated from C. albicans or from chitin obtained commercially, inhibited adhesion of the yeasts to duodenal tissue by 48% and 43%, respectively.